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Class^ 

Book t XS 

Gopght^°_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



What is Eternal Life? 



WIRT DEXTER BINGHAM 






Copyright, 1910 
By MILLISENT BINGHAM 



Printed by 

The Stanley-Taylor Company 

San Francisco 



•GI.A273910 



Sntrobuctton 

"And this is life eternal, that they might know 
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom 
f thou hast sent." — John 17:3, 

After all, words are not very adequate vehicles 
for the expression of thought. This phrase, life 
eternal, for instance, doubtless brings up in your 
mind and in mine, varying ideas as to what is 
included therein. And yet, if you and I do 
not get from this phrase the meaning which 
Christ, the speaker, intended, it should bear, we 
must necessarily have a false idea, or an entirely 
inadequate one, of what it really means. 

It is quite a usual custom for people to import 
into written words their own conceptions. In- 
stead of taking from a verse of the Bible that 
meaning which Christ put into it, they put into 
the verse their own conceptions, and imagine that 
they are getting Christ's meaning, when this is 
not the case at all. 

This is, and has been for many centuries, the 
cause of more religious confusion than any other 
one thing; and the prevalence of fragmentary 



iv INTRODUCTION 

Bible study has undoubtedly contributed to this 
result. Also the too-common custom among 
ministers of selecting for a text a verse of the 
Bible, and from that text landing almost any- 
where, is another cause of mental confusion. 

It is often quite possible to land almost any- 
where by selecting one verse of the Bible for 
a text, and preaching a whole sermon from it. 
Witness the many ministers during and previous 
to the Civil War, who defended slavery from 
the pulpit. Witness today the defense of poly- 
gamy among the Mormons. 

All we have to do to land almost anywhere is 
to take from the Bible what seems desirable to us, 
and let the rest go. Instead of extracting the 
real Christ-given meaning from a verse by 
checking it up with the rest of Christ's words, 
and thus getting the real meaning, the custom 
has been too common for the minister to take 
the text and import quantities of his own con- 
ceptions and ideas into it. 

The result of this course of proceeding must 
be that our conceptions are often wrong, even 
where we think we are right. We cannot take 
truth in teaspoon doses and have any reasonable 
assurance that it is the truth. 



INTRODUCTION v 

Truth, as given in the Gospel of Christ, is a 
veritable network, each strand of which supports 
not only one, but many other strands; and one 
could not be truly said to have a fair under- 
standing of any truth therein contained, except 
they possess a fair understanding of every other 
supporting truth there given. 

Truth is not composed of many different 
fragments placed together, but is in itself a 
perfect and complete whole. The moment any 
part of truth is detached from the main body 
which supports it, it becomes not only a possi- 
bility to force this fragment of truth into a 
meaning entirely foreign to it, but an almost 
inevitable consequence of such detachment; this 
part not being in its true position in the arch 
of truth, the whole structure is slightly deranged. 

Let us, then, endeavor by every means in our 
power to fill out the meaning of the phrase life 
eternal in the way in which Christ intended it 
should be filled out. Let us endeavor to extract 
all that fullness of meaning from these words 
that Christ intended they should contain. 

In order that we may get this full meaning, and 
get it correctly, there appears to be but one 
course of action open to us, and that is: To 



vi INTRODUCTION 

search the Gospel of Christ for other refer- 
ences to this same thing — eternal life. 

You notice I say this same thing, and not 
these same words — eternal life. There are other 
expressions which Christ uses to convey this 
meaning, as, everlasting life. Everlasting means 
eternal. According to Webster, these two words 
are synonyms, the only difference being that 
eternal means without beginning and without 
end; while everlasting simply means without 
end. Therefore, as applied to all beings having 
a definite beginning, eternal must refer to the 
future only, and is absolutely identical in mean- 
ing with everlasting whenever so used. 

What we seek is the meaning, — be the words 
what they may. We seek Christ's conception of 
the thing itself. 

By taking all references which Christ makes 
to eternal life and placing them together, we shall 
obtain the fullness of his meaning, with least 
chance of error. 

If at any time it may appear that I wander 
from the subject, or repeat the same quotation 
with what seems undue frequency, I trust that 
you will bear in mind what I have said about the 
whole network of truth, and remember that I am 



INTRODUCTION vii 

trying to make plain some of these supporting 
strands, without which a proper conception of 
any single one strand would be impossible. 

This will also render apparent the necessity 
for quoting a much larger proportion of Scrip- 
ture than is usual in works of this nature, but 
I trust the high prize sought for: truth as in- 
terpreted by Truth; truth as interpreted by 
Christ, may be ample excuse for inflicting as few 
interruptions of my own upon you as can be got 
along with. Certainly the more we can interpret 
the words of Christ by the words of Christ, the 
less our chance of error. 

In this attempt I must also ask your kind 
indulgence toward my shortcomings, since I 
shall unquestionably fall very far short of doing 
this work as I should like to do it. 

Wirt Dexter Bingham. 

Santa Monica, California, 
April 25, 1909. 



Wfiat is eternal life? 



Section i. "And this is life eternal, that Definition of 
they might know thee the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." — John 17: 3. 

First we learn as above, that life eternal is: 
to know God and Jesus Christ; that is, he that 
merely knows them has eternal life. 

We have all been acquainted with notable 
members of that class of people who continually 
misinterpret the motives of others, even when 
those others are noble-minded people, imputing 
to their noblest actions motives of self-interest — 
the motives which under the same circumstances 
would actuate them. They not only appear to 
be, but really are, unable to conceive of anybody 
doing a noble act, untinged by motives of self- 
interest. 

For instance, you have all probably come in 
contact with people whose sole idea of honesty 
is to keep within the law; in whose opinion 
any act is all right which cannot be punished by 
process of law. They could no more understand 
any one being honest for the sake of honesty 
itself, than they could sprout out wings and fly. 



2 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

These are the people who say, when they hear 
of any noteworthy, honest action — such as a 
man's returning a pocketbook found containing 
a large sum of money: "What a fool he was, 
why didn't he keep it? He needed the money." 

So it is with them; anybody who does any 
action of this kind is, in their estimation, either 
a fool or a religious crank. Such an act is 
beyond their comprehension; they do not know 
honesty. 

The mere power to comprehend in its fullness 
a noble act, is from the same block as the act 
itself — of the same spirit. In order therefore to 
know God; to comprehend* him — not his infin- 
ity, but the motives of his doing — we must par- 

* Webster would doubtless take exception to this use of the 
word comprehend, since he says: "The very idea of God sup- 
poses that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by 
rational beings." 

Now, nothing can be surer than that God comprehends him- 
self. Paul says: "For ye are the temple of the living God; 
as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and 
I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (II Cor. 
6: 16.) In so far, then as God does dwell in us, in so far as 
we are one with him; in just that measure do we comprehend 
him. 

Therefore the word comprehend in this limited use, expresses 
the meaning I wish to convey better than apprehend, which 
means to mentally grasp. Now one cannot know God by the 
mind alone; the process of knowing God involves the heart and 
soul as well as the mind. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 3 

take of his nature. That Spirit which is in him 
must also be in us. 

If then that Spirit be in us which is in him, 
shall we not have eternal life? Are not both 
God and the Spirit of God eternal ? 

If his Spirit forms a part of us, we shall be 
eternal as he is eternal; consequently to know 
God is eternal life — to merely know him. 

We can only learn to know God through the 
words and life of Christ : "No man cometh unto 
the Father, but by me." (John 14:6.) There- 
fore he who learns to know God, must also learn 
to know Christ, since knowledge of both is 
therein contained. 

Section 2. In John 6 : 27, we find : "Labor Labor 
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that "^"he* 
meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which meat of 
the Son of man shall give unto you." Christ ' s Gospel 

Everlasting life, as we have seen, expresses 
the same meaning as eternal life and thus we 
have here another conception of eternal life. We 
are instructed to labor for that meat which en- 
dureth unto eternal life — which Christ gives 
unto us. 

On looking around to see what possessions 
Christ has left unto us, we find that there is but 



4 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

one — his Gospel, which he has given unto us; 
that he has sacrificed his life for us, in order 
that he might leave to every individual man, 
woman, and child as a precious personal pos- 
session, his Holy Gospel. 

But every personal possession we own is valu- 
able according to the use we make of it, and 
the word of Christ is no exception to this rule. 
If we make no use of it, save as a parlor orna- 
ment, that will be the extent of its value to us. 
If, on the other hand, we regard it as a most 
precious personal possession, and labor diligently 
for that meat — the true meaning, which is in it; 
if we make that meat our own, it will endure in 
us unto eternal life, and thus be to us more 
precious than all things. 

The meat is there, but requires labor to ex- 
tract it, to make it our own; even as God has 
made it necessary that all the fruits of the earth 
require labor expended upon them, in order to 
make them useful to man ; whether merely gath- 
ering, as in the case of wild fruits, or elaborate 
processes of manufacture, as in the case of cot- 
ton. Some form of labor is necessary in every 
case. So he has also made it necessary in order 
to accumulate spiritual possessions — heavenly 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 5 

treasures, that we must labor ; and the extent of 
our spiritual possessions will be in proportion to 
the amount of labor expended in their acquire- 
ment, differences of soil and climate considered. 
By soil I mean the individual nature of the man, 
that in which the seed, or word of God, grows ;* 
and by climate, the environment of the man. 

The meat which the Gospel contains is surely 
a right understanding of the word, that inter- 
pretation which Christ himself intended it should 
bear. If we get any other interpretation than 
this, we get that out of it which Christ did not 
put into it, and it consequently cannot be that 
meat. 

The meat, then, is not the mere words of the 
Gospel, but the real Christ-given meaning back 
of them. The word itself is but the lifeless 
husk, open sometimes to many different interpre- 
tations; the real meaning of the word is that 
meat for which we must labor, sifting, comparing, 
deriving, with God's help, that completeness 
of meaning from the four Gospels, which any 
single one of them must necessarily give in- 
adequately. 



* "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God." 
(Luke 8: 11.) 



6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

p 

Christ's Gospel Section 3. In John 4:13, 14, we find: "Jesus 

is the water ° J ^ °' ^ J 

of life answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh 
of this water shall thirst again: 

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I 
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water 
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
water springing up into everlasting life/' 

Here again we have everlasting life, which to 
us is the same as eternal life. Hence he that 
drinks of the water that Christ gives has eternal 
life. And what is this water that Christ has 
given us? Again we see that the only direct 
possession that Christ has given to all men is his 
Gospel. 

He has given his life for all men, but his Gos- 
pel to all men; hence his Gospel being the only- 
possession which he has bequeathed directly to 
us individually, must be this water, or must con- 
tain this water of life. Whichever be the case 
is without importance, as long as we know where 
this water is, and how to drink it; and it is 
plainly evident that there is but one way in which 
this water may be absorbed into ourselves, and 
that is to read and meditate on the Gospel 
wherein this water is, and it will thereby be in 
us a well of water springing up into eternal life. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 7 

It were desirable that we drink abundantly, in 
order that the well may be a deep one, and that 
the water of life which flows from it may be most 
plentiful; for why should we have but a little 
rill of this water in us, when we may have a deep 
and abundant flow? 

Why should we have but a little eternal life, 
perfect though it be, when we may have a deep 
and abundant eternal (spiritual) life? For 
Christ has given to us that very inexhaustible 
well from which he derived his own eternal life, 
— the word of God. 

Section 4. Continuing we find in John 6 : 54 Christ's flesh 
and 63: "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh £ e ^° e od is 
my blood hath eternal life" ; and in further ex- meaning of 
planation, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the ^ e G ™ d 
flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak 
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 

What does this mean? It surely must mean 
that the life, — the eternal life — is in the words 
that Christ speaks, and that the flesh profits noth- 
ing as flesh, but only as the Word. You recollect 
John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, 
and dwelt among us." 

There is also a further lesson here, in the 
manner in which he speaks of eating his flesh. 



8 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

Part of the food that we eat every day builds 
up our physical self, becomes a part of our out- 
ward self. In the same way this flesh of Christ, 
the real meaning of the word, which we absorb 
each day, builds up our spiritual self, becomes 
a part of our inward self. 

This likewise explains many references made 
by Christ to being in us : as in John 14 : 20, "At 
that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, 
and ye in me, and I in you." If then, Christ be 
in us ; being, as he is, eternal, if he be a part of 
us; must we not be eternal, in so far as he 
is a part of us? And if we are in Christ, form 
a part of Christ, must we not be eternal, in so far 
as we are part of Christ ? 

Referring to the verse at the beginning of 
this section we find that Christ says we must 
not only eat his flesh, but drink his blood, to 
have eternal life. 

What was the blood of Christ, spiritually 
speaking? It must have been that from which 
his spiritual self was built up. Since blood is 
that by means of which the physical man is built 
up, and as it is derived from food; so, in a 
spiritual sense, the blood of Christ must be taken 
to mean that from which the spiritual man is 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 9 

built up, that food which gives life to the spiri- 
tual man. 

Now, in seeking what gave life to the spiritual 
part of Jesus, we find the following verse: "As 
the living Father sent me, and / live by the 
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live 
by me." (John 6: 57.) Since blood is that which 
gives life to the physical man, it follows, spiri- 
tually speaking, that the Father must have been 
that blood which gave life to Christ. And, since 
the Father could not dwell in Christ bodily, it 
must have been by means of his Spirit, his in- 
most self, that he gave life unto Christ. 

Hence we find that to drink the blood of Christ 
is to absorb into ourselves the Spirit of the 
Father. And, therefore, to eat the flesh and 
drink the blood of Christ means : to read the 
word and absorb into ourselves the Spirit of 
God. He that does this has eternal life. 

Now there is another reference in John 6:51, 
which would properly come under this section, 
"I am the living bread which came down from 
heaven : if any man eat of this bread he shall 
live forever: and the bread that I will give is 
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the 
world." To live forever is eternal life, as re- 



io WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

gards all beings having a definite beginning. 
This verse fills in, and renders more forcible, the 
matter we have just discussed. 

There is here no reference to the blood, but 
this in no way disturbs the correctness of our 
previous conclusions ; since to "eat of this bread" 
obviously means to absorb into ourselves the 
true meaning of the word, and he who does this 
absorbs into himself the Spirit of God. For 
does not Paul say: "Even so the things of God 
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (I Cor. 
2:11.) If, therefore, we know the things of 
God, by absorbing into ourselves the true mean- 
ing of the word, it is not we that know them, 
but the Spirit of God in us. 

Christ says: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; 
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I 
speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life." 
(John 6:63.) It is plain that when Christ says 
his words are spirit, and are life, that he does 
not mean the mere symbols, but the true mean- 
ings which those symbols are intended to convey. 

Therefore the definition of eternal life which 
we derive from this section is : eternal life is to 
eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ; 
which means to read the word of God, and ab- 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? n 

sorb into ourselves the Spirit of God; or, what 
is the same thing, to absorb into ourselves the 
true meaning of the word of God. 

That Christ spoke the verses above in the sense 
in which they are here interpreted is rendered 
clear, not only by the verses themselves and 
their agreement with each other, but by the 
fact that his mission upon earth was a spiri- 
tual one, to give unto men eternal — that is, 
spiritual — life. 

Section 5. Continuing we find in John 12: The under- 
49, 50 : "But the Father which sent me, he gave standing of 
me a commandment, what I should say, and what man dment is 
I should speak. And I know that his command- eternal life 
ment is life everlasting.'' 

We have here life everlasting again, which is, 
in respect to us, the very meaning of eternal life. 
These words which Christ speaks are the com- 
mandment of God, which is eternal life. If then 
these words, this commandment, be absorbed into 
us, become a part of us, shall we not have eternal 
life? If in the case of Jesus "the Word was 
made flesh," in our case also shall not the word 
be made flesh? 

Shall we not by this method become one with 
Christ? as mentioned in John 17:21 and 23: 



12 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father art 
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one 
in us!' "I in them, and thou in me, that they 
may be made perfect in one." If our will on all 
matters be changed by this absorbed word so as 
to coincide with God's will, shall we not be one 
in Christ, and through him in God also ? 

Who can deny that this absorbed word of God 
will produce this result? None surely of those 
who in true humility of heart unceasingly search 
the word of God for light, submitting their wills 
unto the will of God, until finally they find their 
will is becoming by the marvelous influence of 
Christ changed so as to be more and more like 
unto God's will, until at last when we are per- 
fected in Christ, our will shall become even as 
the will of God on all matters whatever. 

Who can deny that while this changing process 
is going on, Christ dwells in such? Yes, that by 
the blessed influence of Christ himself, this 
change is produced? 

Our definition of eternal life here then is, — 
eternal life is the commandment of God which 
is the word of Christ. 

He that has in him the true meaning of the 
commandment of God has eternal life. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 13 

Section 6. We find in John 5:24: "Verily Dee P 

.- -r xt 1 1 1 1 meditation 

verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, necessary 
and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
lasting life; and shall not come into condemna- 
tion ; but is passed from death unto life." Here 
we have everlasting life again, which is equiva- 
lent to eternal life. 

Then eternal life is here composed of two 
things, — first, the hearing of the word; second, 
the believing on him that sent him. Had these 
things not both been necessary Christ would not 
have put them here. The inference is plain that 
the process of hearing should be followed in 
natural order by the process of believing on him 
that sent him; and this believing does not, of 
course, mean a mere assent to the existence and 
supreme power of God, but carries with it the 
idea that we must, in some satisfactory degree, 
know God; that we must know — comprehend — 
his character as well as apprehend his power; 
for how can we believe on that which we know 
not, and how can we know without compre- 
hending ? 

Words are dead things. Ideas, thoughts, are 
live things. Mere assent to the existence of God 
and his supreme power is a dead thing. To 



14 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

know God, to comprehend his character is a live 
thing, and therein is eternal life. The power to 
know God and comprehend his character can 
only be reached through Jesus Christ — through 
his word. 

God is as far above man as the heavens are 
above the earth ; man cannot therefore know and 
comprehend God's character in any way what- 
ever, save by the Spirit of God which he gives 
unto us through the medium of his Holy Word ; 
and this endowment with God's Spirit and conse- 
quent comprehension of his character, with the 
eternal life following, is not, and cannot be, the 
result of mere formal reading, but of deep medi- 
tation and thought on what we read. 
To believe on Section 7. We find in John 6 : 47 : "Verily, 
Christ is to ver ji y j say unt0 you jje that believeth on me 

seek the honor J ' J J 7 

that comes hath everlasting life." 

from God Here again we have everlasting, to which 
eternal is equivalent when applied to the future 
life of man, and thus we have another definition 
of eternal life. 

To believe on Jesus Christ is eternal life. 
Here we have a word, believe, to which we are 
liable to attribute a wrong meaning, or at least 
an entirely inadequate one, if we are not very 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 15 

careful; as previously mentioned we are apt to 
put our own meaning into a word, that meaning 
to which we have been accustomed, instead of 
that meaning which Christ has put into the word. 

Now in John 5 : 44, Christ says respecting the 
word believe: "How can ye believe, which re- 
ceive honor one of another, and seek not the 
honor that cometh from God only?" Here his 
inference is plain, a direct statement put in the 
form of a question, that no persons can believe 
who receive honor one of another, and seek not 
that honor which comes from God only. 

Here he makes plain that his use of the word 
believe is not intended to convey merely the 
meaning of mental assent to the fact that he is 
the Son of God, and that we have eternal life 
through him, though that meaning is also in- 
cluded; but this belief to which he refers is 
incompatible with any other condition of heart, 
than that condition which seeks the honor that 
comes from God only. 

Do we seek this ? Here then is a test by which 
we may know whether or not we possess a 
belief unto eternal life. It is evident that we 
must seek the honor which comes from God first 
of all, since Christ says respecting the very 



16 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

necessities of life : "But seek ye first the king- 
dom of God, and his righteousness; and all 
these things shall be added unto you." (Mat- 
thew 6: 33.) 

If then as between the very necessities of 
physical life and God's righteousness we are to 
seek first God's righteousness, how much more 
ought we to seek first the honor which comes 
only from God, as between the honor which 
comes from man, and that which comes from 
God only. For physical life cannot be main- 
tained without food and clothing, but to be hon- 
ored of men is not necessary either to physical 
or spiritual life. 

It is clear from what has been said that no 
man is able to possess a belief unto eternal life 
except he seek first of all that honor which 
comes only from God ; for if he seeks that honor 
second it is apparent that he will be in the posi- 
tion of a man trying to serve two masters, and 
Christ has said: "No man can serve two mas- 
ters." (Matthew 6:24.) 

Therefore the man who seeks first the honor 
which comes from man, and second the honor 
that comes only from God, cannot be a servant 
of God, and hence cannot have eternal life, or 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 17 

that belief in Christ which is equivalent to 
eternal life. 

Section 8. In John 8: 51 we find: " Verily, He in whom 
verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, Christ ' s word s 

„ abide has 

he shall never see death. Now never to see eternal life 
death means eternal life, to us ; hence it follows 
that eternal life is to keep Christ's saying. And 
how can a man keep Christ's saying except he 
first know the saying, and how can he really 
know it except he read it diligently, and medi- 
tate upon it without ceasing? For no man can 
really know the saying of Christ except he under- 
stand it. 

He that keeps the saying of Christ must have 
in himself the power of Christ, since the power 
of man is not sufficient to keep the command- 
ment of God perfectly; and that power of 
Christ was by and through the word of God. 
(John 12:49.) "For I have not spoken of my- 
self; but the Father which sent me, he gave me 
a commandment, what I should say and what I 
should speak. 

"And I know that his commandment is life 
everlasting." 

Therefore in man also must this power of 
Christ be by and through the word of God. 



18 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

Christ says in John 15:4: "Abide in me, and 
I in you/ 7 In verse 7 of the same chapter he 
says: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide 
in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall 
be done unto you." Can this be explained on any 
other supposition than that he in whom Christ's 
words abide, will abide in Christ? Then if he in 
whom Christ's words abide, thereby has Christ's 
words in himself, will not both the will and the 
power of Christ be there also, — the will and the 
power to keep Christ's saying? If then to keep 
Christ's saying be eternal life, will this man not 
have eternal life? 
The righteous- Section 9. In Matthew 25 : 46, we find : "And 
nC b W faith is ^ese shall go away into everlasting punishment : 
eternal life but the righteous into life eternal." 

Here we learn that to be righteous is eternal 
life. Now we know that God only is righteous, 
in thought, word, and deed. Therefore it may 
well occur to us to consider whether any save 
God or Christ — "I and my Father are one" — 
shall ever attain to eternal life. 

We know that no man, as a man, has ever 
attained or ever can attain to absolute righteous- 
ness, since Christ says : "There is none good 
but one, that is, God," (Matthew 19:17), and 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 19 

since he also says concerning himself: "and the 
third day I shall be perfected." (Luke 13:32.) 

If then, even Jesus Christ did not regard him- 
self as perfect while still in the flesh, it is plain 
that none other can be perfect until after the 
death of the physical man. We therefore know 
that this life is for us a progress towards per- 
fection — toward absolute righteousness ; but 
that we shall not reach this condition until we 
are released from the bonds of the flesh; until 
we are perfected in Christ and become one in 
him. 

Then shall we be perfect, as Christ has com- 
manded us: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as 
your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 
(Matthew 5:48.) 

Yet, though because of the bond of the flesh, 
perfect righteousness is not possible to us here, 
still that righteousness which is by faith in 
Jesus Christ, and which has been mercifully or- 
dained of God for men is possible to us. 

For we can only have faith concerning those 
things which are not yet perfectly attained to. 
As Paul says in Hebrews 11 : 1, "Now faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
of things not seen." If then there was no further 



20 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

righteousness to hope for, faith would not be 
possible, since faith can only exist concerning 
those things not yet entirely known or at- 
tained to. 

Hence it is not possible that men should reach 
a condition of absolute righteousness here, since 
to do so would be to render faith impossible, 
while man is saved by faith. 

If then our righteousness is through faith 
only, let us be mighty in faith in order that we 
may also here upon earth be mighty in righteous- 
ness. And though we cannot of ourselves have 
faith, let us even say to Christ as the apostles 
said, "increase our faith"; for Christ is both 
the beginner and finisher of our faith, and 
except as we know and acknowledge our own 
helplessness in the matter, Christ cannot help us, 
since we must first put ourselves into his hands. 

As Paul says in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto 
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." 

Let us therefore have that righteousness which 
is by faith, in order that we may also have 
eternal life, for to be righteous is eternal life. 

As Paul also says in Romans 10: 17, "So then 
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
word of God." 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 21 

Section 10. In Luke 10:25 to 28 we find: Power t0 love 

a a 1 1 1 1 1 -1 1 1 God and 0Ur 

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and neighbor comes 
tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to to us ' as to 

• 1 • 1 i-r -> a Christ, from 

inherit eternal life ? the Spirit of 

"He said unto him what is written in the law? God - Study 

of Christ's 

how readest thou? wor ds 

"And he answering said, Thou shalt love the necessary 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all 
thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 

"And he said unto him, Thou hast answered 
right ; this do, and thou shalt live." 

Here then we find it is eternal life, — to love 
the Lord with all thy heart, and soul, and 
strength, and mind, and thy neighbor as thy- 
self. 

"With all thy heart." That men are endowed 
with talents in different degree is apparent as we 
look around us and observe our fellows ; so 
perhaps it is unnecessary to do more than refer 
to the parable of the talents, in which Christ 
makes this truth apparent, and also the related 
truth that we are rewarded according to the 
use we make of those talents which God gives us. 

For instance, men's hearts differ; some men 
appear to be large-hearted naturally, and the 



22 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

hearts of others to be of smaller make. We 
are not required to love God with as much power 
as some other larger-hearted man, for that would 
be beyond us ; but with all our heart — with all 
the heart which God has given us. 

"And with all thy soul." Some men's souls 
are a fertile soil for the growth of love, and 
when love has been planted there, it springs up 
into, a mighty growth, a growth so large as to 
be a beacon-light among men. 

The souls of others are rather a sterile soil, love 
seems to find here but a limited supply of food, 
and the plant therefore does not become so robust. 

Now why does the plant love find here but 
a small supply of food? 

Every plant in the physical world extracts cer- 
tain chemical elements from the soil, from which 
the plant itself is built up. Different crops take 
different proportions of the different elements. 
Returning to the growth of the plant love in 
the soil of the human soul, it seems apparent 
that the particular elements which are necessary 
to nourish this plant, dwell in this sterile soil so 
sparingly that the plant remains half starved. 

Now if any farmer had on his farm soil so 
poor in needed elements that he could not raise 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 23 

the crops desired, what would he do ? Why if he 
knew his business he would doubtless replace the 
needed elements in the soil by means of some 
fertilizer which' contained those elements in 
abundance. 

In seeking a fertilizer for a sterile soul that 
will give it the needed elements to abundantly 
nourish the plant love, we surely cannot do bet- 
ter than to search for the human soul which 
has in all time borne the most abundant fruitage 
from this plant, — the man Christ Jesus. 

It is generally conceded even by those who 
are not believers that Jesus manifested love in 
his words and deeds more abundantly than any 
other man. 

Was the soul of Jesus as a man naturally so 
rich of soil that love grew luxuriantly there, and 
brought forth fruit abundantly in loving deeds? 
We cannot do better than examine the testimony 
of Jesus himself regarding the matter. 

He says : "I can of mine own self do nothing." 
This being so, it is evident that of his own self he 
could not do a loving deed, for that is a some- 
thing of a very pronounced kind, — as ever}?- man 
must admit who has ever tried to force himself to 
a deed contrary to his nature. 



24 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

Loving deeds cannot be brought forth from a 
soil in which love will not grow. Two men 
might do the same deed. With one it might 
be an act inspired by love, and with the other 
an act grudged, with many grumblings, in which 
no love was apparent. 

Since the soul of Jesus, he being a man as 
we are, did not by nature contain this richness 
of the elements upon which love thrives, we may 
well imagine what his fertilizer was, and where 
he obtained it. It is plain that this fertilizer was 
the Spirit of God, and that he obtained it from 
God. 

The Spirit of God supplies just precisely 
those elements on which the plant love thrives 
best in the human soul ; and does not the Spirit 
of God enrich the human soul? 

As a well-selected fertilizer manifests its pres- 
ence by a more abundant crop of fruit, so the 
Spirit of God manifests its presence by a more 
abundant crop of loving deeds. 

"By their fruits ye shall know them." 

Since Christ obtained the Spirit of God from 
God himself, it is evident that we must go to 
the same source, — as John says, "and the Word 
was God." 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 25 

Now even as a fertilizer must be hauled and 
spread over an impoverished field in order that 
all parts of the soil may be enriched, so also there 
is labor to be done ere the impoverished soul 
can be enriched by the Spirit of God, and that 
labor it is perhaps needless to say, must be done 
upon the word of God, in seeking the true mean- 
ing thereof. 

This spiritual fertilizer, unlike the fertilizers 
of the physical world, is a living fertilizer, and 
grows from a seed — the true meaning of the 
word of God. 

When the soil — the human soul — becomes so 
rich in needed elements on which good plants 
thrive, that it becomes identical with those ele- 
ments, identical with that fertilizer, then that soul 
is indeed one in God: such a soul had the man 
Jesus. 

It is manifestly true that every human soul 
must raise some kind of a crop, whether it be 
deeds of love, or deeds of hatred, deeds of gener- 
osity, or deeds of meanness. Many different 
deeds there are, both good and evil, but all of 
them are natural fruits of plants in the human 
soul. 

It is a strange thing that in many souls a 



26 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

plant of love toward some often grows side by 
side with a plant of hatred towards others, as 
the hill of corn grows beside the burdock, or 
the turnip beside the mullein. 

Why should this be so? Since there is one 
plant, in the presence of which none of these 
weeds which absorb the nutriment from the soul 
can increase and grow luxuriant. 

The presence of love for God renders the soul 
an inhospitable soil for all evil weeds, and all 
good plants thrive in its vicinity. It is plain 
that no matter how much a human soul may 
lack those elements which nourish plants of good, 
that the Spirit of God will, if applied to that soul, 
render it most rich in the very elements it lacks, 
and therefore most productive of good deeds. 

Can any man be discouraged when he knows 
that there is an infinite supply of this Spirit, and 
that it is easily accessible? When he knows 
that the infinite Father greatly desires to give 
him this Spirit abundantly if he will only accept 
it, and that he has established a way in which 
he may accept it — through the word ? 

Here is a way, then, to so enrich the soul that 
love for God may grow therein with abundant 
luxuriance, and that we may come to love him 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 27 

with all our soul. Then shall every good plant 
grow there also, for every good plant is, as it 
were, but a natural branch of this love for God, 
not a grafted, but a natural branch; thus shall 
we come to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

As we have seen, the impoverished soul can be 
enriched. Now also we find that men are called 
large-hearted because love dwells in their hearts 
abundantly. To all small-hearted men this 
should be most encouraging, since it necessarily 
follows that even as the poorest of souls can be 
enriched, so also the smallest hearts can be 
enlarged. 

Yes, God is able to deepen and enlarge our 
hearts so that they may hold love in abundance 
towards the Father and towards our neighbor. 
This process must doubtless be with suffering, 
but in contemplating the great heart of Christ 
there is healing. The more we contemplate it 
the larger our own will grow, for "all things are 
possible with God," and "the Word was God," 
and is. 

"And with all thy strength." That men differ 
in strength or power to love God is as apparent 
as that they differ in physical strength, but of 
this we may be sure: that if we use what 



28 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

strength we already have in loving God, in seek- 
ing him, — he is not only able to give unto us 
more strength, but he will do so. "Unto him that 
hath shall be given." If we have a little strength 
he will give unto us more strength. 

Does not John the Baptist say concerning 
Christ: "For he whom God hath sent speaketh 
the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit 
by measure unto him"? (John 3:34.) 

If then God has given his Spirit to his Son 
without measure, by coming to Christ we may 
also receive strength without measure to love 
God and his righteousness; for the Spirit of 
God is strength, and without him there is no 
strength. Now this Spirit of God comes to us 
through Jesus Christ, even as Christ said: "No 
man cometh to the Father but by me," and "I 
am the vine, ye are the branches." 

Yes, that same strength-giving and life-giving 
sap, the Spirit of God, that flowed through 
Christ, can give unto us strength to love God 
and our neighbor, even as it gave strength to 
Jesus to do so. 

"And with all thy mind." All men also differ 
in their endowment of mental power, but the 
plain intent of the above phrase is that we should 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 29 

use what mental power we already have, in seek- 
ing God and his righteousness, for in doing so 
would be manifested the fact that we loved him 
with all our mind. 

God does not require impossibilities of us, but 
only that we should use what mind he has 
already given us in loving him, — in seeking him. 
If we do this he will surely grant unto us under- 
standing. 

Now the mind of the natural man is unable to 
understand the things of God, for this under- 
standing comes through the Spirit of God only; 
but the mind of man is able to seek those things 
and to meditate upon them, and if we do this with 
what mental powers we have we may be sure that 
God will bless us with his Spirit, and that we 
will thereby understand these things. 

What a blessed thing it is to think that no 
matter how great a man's education may be; 
though he may be a graduate of many colleges 
and have many degrees after his name, yet all 
these advantages will not profit him in the under- 
standing of spiritual things except he love the 
Lord with his mind, — that is, seek him. 

The very day-laborer who loves God with all 
his mind, who seeks to understand the things 



3 o WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

of God with what mental powers he possesses, 
is better off spiritually than the man of many 
degrees who exercises but a part of his mind in 
loving God; but a part of his mental power in 
seeking him and meditating upon his righteous- 
ness. 

How perfect is the justice of God; and what 
a comfort it ought to be to all of us to consider 
that our reward, our treasure, is not given with 
reference to what we have in the line of edu- 
cation, but with reference to the use we make 
of what we have. 

If, then, we use all our mental powers in 
seeking God, in meditating upon those things 
which are of him, we shall fulfill this part of 
God's law: to love God with all our mind. 

We must therefore love God, not only with 
every part of our being, but with all of every 
part. 

And if we love God thus, must not this love 
manifest itself, make itself known that men may 
see it? Yes, whether we naturally have much or 
little heart, soul, strength and mind; if we love 
God thus, it will manifest itself in good works 
to all men. For if we love God thus, we will 
keep his commandment to love our neighbor as 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 31 

ourselves. This love was the love which Christ 
manifested unto us, for Christ himself could 
have no greater love than this. 

This love is a perfect love, as Christ has said : 
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.) 
There can be no love more perfect than a per- 
fect love. Perfection is perfection and there is 
no further perfection beyond it. So Christ has 
manifested forth this perfect love to us, and is 
able now to manifest it forth in us, if we submit 
ourselves entirely to him. 

His love must always be the same, now and 
evermore, and if we give ourselves wholly to him, 
he is able to enter into us, and occupy every part 
of our being with a perfect love. For he has 
said : "At that day ye shall know that I am in my 
Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (John 
14:20.) 

If then, he be in us, he is able to be in us still 
more abundantly, until finally we shall be per- 
fected in him, and there shall be no part of our 
being where he is not. We shall truly be his 
entirely, we in him, and he in us, in all possible 
fullness; as he says in John 15:4, "Abide in me, 
and I in you." And, as a further clue to how 



32 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

this may be done, he says in the seventh verse, 
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, 
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
unto you." 

Therefore if his words abide in us, we shall 
abide in him, and he will abide in us. 

If his words abide in us sparingly, he will 
abide in us sparingly. If his words abide in us 
abundantly, he will abide in us abundantly. 

He says: "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it 
shall be done unto you." As Jesus said when he 
raised Lazarus from the dead : "Father, I thank 
thee that thou hast heard me. 

"And I knew that thou hearest me always : 
but because of the people which stand by I said 
it, that they may believe that thou hast sent 
me." (John n 141, 42.) Even so shall we know 
that the Father hears us always, for he hear- 
eth always the Son, and the Son shall be in 
us at that perfect day in the greatest possible 
degree. 

So to have in you this perfect love ; to love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy 
soul, and all thy strength, and all thy mind, 
and thy neighbor as thyself is eternal life — com- 
plete eternal life. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 33 

Section ii. In John 12: 25 we find, "He that Christ's 

• • 1 disciple will 

loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth forsake ail 
his life in this world shall keep it unto life that interposes 

„ between him- 

eternal. self and Go d 

Now if a man have eternal life he must love 
the Lord and his righteousness above all other 
things, as is evidenced by Luke 14:33: "So 
likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh 
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." 

Now for a man to forsake all that he has for 
something is clear proof that he loves that some- 
thing more than he loves all that he has. In this 
case that something for love of which he for- 
sakes all is God and his righteousness as repre- 
sented in Jesus Christ. 

Now we know that no man can come to God 
or know his righteousness save through Christ. 
"No man cometh unto the Father but by me." 
(John 14:6. ) He that comes to God through 
Christ is a disciple of Christ. Hence, as I said 
at the beginning of this section, if a man have 
eternal life he must love the Lord and his right- 
eousness above all other things. 

Now there is but one obstruction which inter- 
poses between the man who has eternal life, and 
the Lord and his righteousness, and that obstruc- 



34 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

tion is his existence in a material world. When 
he loses this sense of existence, his union and 
oneness with Christ, and through Christ with 
God is made perfect. "I in them, and thou in me, 
that they may be made perfect in one/' (John 
17:23.) 

How can a man love the very obstruction 
which keeps him from the dearest object of his 
affection, — the object that he places above all 
other things put together? Will he not rather 
hate it with strong hatred? Is it not that which 
keeps him from complete oneness with God and 
his righteousness — the one thing which prevents 
his will from becoming identical with God's will ? 

Yes, he that has eternal life must, indeed, not 
only hate life in a material sense, the life of, and 
in this world; but also all things in the world 
which interpose between him and God's right- 
eousness. 

Section 12. Now in summing up, we have 
Summary Christ's word for it that it is eternal life: 

1. To know God and Jesus Christ. 

2. To labor for that meat which the Son of 
man gives unto us, — the meaning of the word. 

3. To drink of the water that Christ gives us, 
— the word in its true meaning. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 35 

4. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of 
Christ, — or to eat of the living bread. 

5. To have in you the commandment, or 
word, of God. 

6. To hear Christ's word and believe on him 
that sent him. 

7. To believe on Jesus Christ. 

8. To keep Christ's saying. 

9. To be righteous. 

10. To love the Lord with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and 
with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 

11. To hate one's life in this world. (Because 
we love righteousness, and hate unrighteousness.) 

To apply the test of truth to these sayings is 
not only allowable, but very desirable, since truth 
is not a thing which need fear investigation, but 
is rather confirmed and made stronger by it. 

We have here eleven different things, any one 
of which Christ declares equivalent to eternal 
life. In order for these each to be equivalent to 
eternal life, they must all be in perfect harmony. 
If they do not harmonize, the presumption would 
be strong that we had either derived a wrong 
interpretation of some of them, or that these 



36 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

declarations and words of Christ were not the 
truth. 

On the other hand, if all these varying declara- 
tions of Christ agree together, then the presump- 
tion of their truth is vastly increased, even to 
the mind of the unbeliever; for truth must be 
in harmony with itself, and these doctrines would 
therefore fill that requirement. 

The fact that the interpretations as given agree 
together in one, would also be a strong presump- 
tion that they were correctly given as far as 
they went. 

We will take any one of these definitions of 

eternal life as, — to know God and Jesus Christ 

is eternal life, and ascertain if they all agree 

together with this. If they do, an exceedingly 

strong presumption is thereby derived, not only 

that the word of Christ is the truth, but that the 

interpretations are correct as far as given. 

To labor for Section 1 3. Let us take the second definition, 

Christ gives — " to labor for that meat which the Son of man 

us is to gives unto us is eternal life ; and consider it with 

and^hrist relation to the first, — "to know God and Jesus 

Christ is eternal life." 

As we have previously seen, it is necessary 
that we labor, if we wish to obtain this meat 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 37 

which Christ gives unto us ; there is treasure 
here in the word of God, but it must first be dug 
out if we wish to make it our own. 

That the invariable effect of labor spent on 
the word will be to make these treasures ours, is 
rendered evident by Matt. 7 : 8, "For everyone 
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh find- 
eth; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened." 

If, then, we seek with diligence for that meat 
which endureth unto eternal life ; if we labor for 
it, we shall find it. If we continue knocking with 
persistence at this door which leads to knowledge 
of God, this door will be opened to us, and we 
shall enter in, into a gradually increasing knowl- 
edge of God. 

Thus we find that to labor for this meat is 
equivalent to obtaining it, and to obtain it is to 
know God and Jesus Christ; since the true 
Christ-given meaning of the word makes known 
both God and Christ to all men. Hence, to labor 
for that meat which the Son of man gives unto 
us — the true meaning of the word — and, to know 
God and Jesus Christ, agree together in one; 
both lead to eternal life; both are necessary to 
eternal life; by both we are led into a clearer 



38 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

conception of the Christ-given meaning of eternal 
life. 
To drink of Section 14. Third we have, — to drink of the 

the water that . . 

Christ gives water that Christ gives us — the word — is eternal 

us is to know life. Now knowledge of God and Christ is made 

Christ known to man by the word of Christ, therefore 

he that drinks of this word, that absorbs it into 

himself, comes to know both God and Christ. 

He that drinks sparingly of the true meaning 
of this word will be feeble in knowledge of God, 
and he that drinks abundantly will have abundant 
knowledge of God. 

Therefore, to drink of the water that Christ 
gives us — the word — and, to know God and 
Jesus Christ, agree together, and both make 
more apparent to us what Christ means by eter- 
nal life. According as one drinks so will be his 
knowledge of both God and Christ. 
To partake of Section 1 5. Fourth, — to eat the flesh and 

^woof's drink the blood of Christ > or t0 eat of the livin S 

to know God bread is eternal life. He that eats the flesh — the 

and Christ word _ and drinks the blood— the Spirit— of 

Christ, or eats of the living bread — the true 
meaning of the word, — will thereby know both 
God and Christ, since both are in the word made 
known to man. If the word becomes part of us 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 39 

spiritually, as the bodily nourishment we eat be- 
comes part of us physically, so also will knowl- 
edge of both God and Christ be in us. 

Thus we find that to know God and Jesus 
Christ, and to eat the flesh and drink the blood 
of Christ, or to eat of the living bread, also agree 
together, both helping to make plainer Christ's 
meaning of eternal life. 

Section 16. Fifth, — to have in you the com- To have in us 

/— 1 word of 

mandment, or word, of God is eternal life. God is to 

It is logically apparent that he who has in know God 

1 • 1 1 r ^ 1 • • and Christ 

him the commandment, or word, of God, in its 
true meaning, must know God and Jesus Christ ; 
since both are through the word made known 
to man. 

It is clear also, that he who has in him but a 
part of the true meaning of the word, can have 
but a partial knowledge of God and Christ ; that 
as the true meaning of the word increases within 
him, so also must knowledge of God and Christ 
increase within him, until finally when the com- 
mandment of God is in him perfected, his knowl- 
edge of God and Christ must also be perfected. 
"For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 
But when that which is perfect is come, then 
that which is in part shall be done away." "For 



40 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

now we see through a glass, darkly; but then 
face to face : now I know in part ; but then shall 
I know even as also I am known." (I Cor. 13: 
9, 10, 12.) 

We thus see the constant and intimate relation 
existing between the commandment of God in 
us, and knowledge of God and Jesus Christ in us. 

We find therefore that these two definitions of 
eternal life are in perfect harmony with each 
other. 
To hear Section 17. Sixth, to hear Christ's word and 
Christ's word j} e ij eve on him that sent him is eternal life. 

and believe 

on him that As we have seen (Section 6), the necessary 
sent him is re i a tion existing between the hearing of Christ's 

to know God ° ° 

and Christ word and the believing on him that sent him, 
indicates that the believing is to be the result 
of the hearing. 

Now we must all admit that for a man to hear 
anything without understanding it in some de- 
gree, profits him nothing. The profit lies in the 
understanding, for the words themselves are only 
so many dry bones, being but symbols standing 
in the place of meaning. Accordingly if the 
meaning be not in some degree understood, the 
hearing is profitless. 

In this case, however, the hearing is followed 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 41 

by believing on him that sent him, the result of 
both being eternal life. This could by no means 
be called profitless, but rather profitable in the 
highest degree ; therefore the hearing of Christ's 
word here spoken of must be a hearing accom- 
panied by understanding. 

This being the case, both God and Christ must 
in some degree be made known to the hearer. 
Hence to hear Christ's word and believe on him 
that sent him, and to know God and Jesus Christ, 
are perfectly harmonious and present different 
views of the same thing, — eternal life. 

Section 18. Seventh, to believe on Jesus To believe 
Christ is eternal life. ™ J esus 

Christ is to 

It is very apparent that for a person to believe know God 
on anything, he must first be acquainted with it, and Chnst 
or know it in some satisfactory degree. For how 
can a man believe on a thing of which he has no 
knowledge? How can a man accept that of 
which he is ignorant? 

How could you, for instance, have a well- 
grounded belief that Mr. X, a man totally un- 
known to you and your friends, was entirely 
honest, when you knew nothing of him from 
any source? 

Then, since it is impossible for one to have 



42 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

a logical belief in regard to anything without 
some knowledge of that thing, it naturally fol- 
lows that any man who believes on Jesus Christ 
must therefore know him in some satisfactory 
degree, and he who knows Christ knows God as 
well, — "I and my Father are one" (John 10 : 30) ; 
and "If ye had known me, ye should have known 
my Father also." (John 14:7.) 

Hence he who believes on Jesus Christ must 
therefore know both God and Christ. These 
two things thus agree, and each helps to make 
plainer that fullness of meaning which Christ 
intended the words eternal life should bear. 
To keep Section 19. Eighth, to keep Christ's saying is 

Christ's say- j fif ' 

ing is to 

know God He that keeps Christ's saying must first know 
the saying before he can keep it; and he that 
knows Christ's saying and keeps it, also knows 
both God and Christ, since both are thereby 
made known to man. 

We find that a knowledge of the saying, and 
consequently a knowledge of both God and 
Christ, must precede the keeping of it. There 
is thus an intimate and harmonious connection 
between the two, and by means of both our 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 43 

understanding of eternal life is rendered more 
complete. 

Section 20. Ninth, to be righteous is eternal To he . r * ght " 

eous is to 

life. know God 

Now we know that the righteousness of God and Chnst 
is as far above the righteousness of man as the 
heavens are above the earth. 

When Christ speaks of being righteous he 
surely means the highest kind of righteousness; 
that perfect righteousness which is of God, which 
he himself possessed. We know that no man has 
ever attained to this perfect righteousness, while 
in the form of man, save Jesus Christ only. 

In section nine, we found that complete real- 
ization destroys the existence of faith, since faith 
is in regard to things hoped for, and if there 
was nothing left to be hoped for, faith could 
not exist. 

In regard to knowledge of God, for instance, 
we have faith that we shall come to know, even 
as we are known. Paul says, "Now I know in 
part; but then shall I know even as also I am 
known." (I Cor. 13: 12.) Now God knows us 
perfectly, and in order to realize this object of 
faith, we must also come to know him perfectly, 
in his character; when however we do come to 



44 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

know God perfectly, further faith on this subject 
becomes impossible, since faith disappears in per- 
fect knowledge. 

We see on the other hand, that faith in God 
without any knowledge of him is equally impos- 
sible, for how can one believe or have faith in 
that of which he knows nothing? 

We see plainly that some knowledge of the 
object of faith is necessary in order for faith to 
exist. Furthermore we cannot fail to see that 
as our knowledge of God is imperfect, so also 
our faith in God must be imperfect ; that as our 
knowledge of God is abundant, so must our faith 
in God be abundant; that as our knowledge of 
God increases, our faith in God also increases, 
until as our knowledge of God (in respect to the 
quality of Being), becomes perfect, our faith in 
God also becomes perfect: that is our faith be- 
comes merged in perfect knowledge. 

Going back to the matter of righteousness, 
even as our faith in God increases proportion- 
ally with our knowledge of God, so also does our 
righteousness increase proportionally with our 
knowledge of God, since our righteousness on 
earth is by faith. As Paul says, "Even the 
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 45 

Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." 
Let it be noted that if the faith of Jesus Christ 
be a perfect faith, his knowledge also is a per- 
fect knowledge. "As the Father knoweth me, 
even so know I the Father." (John 10:15.) 

At that time, then, when a perfect righteous- 
ness is attained to, must also a perfect knowl- 
edge of God (his character, rather than his in- 
finity) be attained to; and if a perfect knowledge 
of God, a perfect knowledge of Christ also, since 
we come to know God through Christ. "No 
man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 
14:6.) "I and my Father are one." (John 
10:30.) 

Therefore we find that, to be righteous is 
eternal life, and to know God and Jesus Christ 
is eternal life, agree together. 

Section 21. Tenth, to love God with all thy To love God 
heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy neighbor is 
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neigh- to know God 
bor as thyself is eternal life. 

In order to love anyone it is first necessary 
that we should be acquainted with, or know him 
in some degree. One could not love a person 
whom he neither knew nor knew of. Some 
knowledge then of God and his character is 



46 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

absolutely necessary before we can love him 
at all. 

If our knowledge of him be small, our love for 
him must necessarily be small ; if our knowledge 
of him be great, our love for him must be cor- 
respondingly great, since God is perfect. 

If our knowledge of God be a perfect knowl- 
edge, our love for him must be a correspondingly 
perfect love, and we shall love him with all our 
heart, and with all our soul, and with all our 
strength, and with all our mind. 

Now, having the power to keep the first and 
great commandment perfectly, must carry with 
it the power to love our neighbor as ourselves, 
for obedience to this first and great command- 
ment implies perfection. If we possess the 
power to love God with a perfect love, we must 
possess the will to obey all his commandments. 
"If a man love me, he will keep my words." 
(John 14:23.) 

We find therefore that there is, and neces- 
sarily must be, a constant relation between our 
knowledge of God and Christ, — for we have 
seen that we can only know God through Christ, 
— and our love for God and our neighbor: that 
both agree, and give us a fuller idea of the mean- 
ing of eternal life. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 47 

Section 22. Eleventh, — to hate one's life in To hate an 

unspiritual 

this world is eternal life. life i s to 

As we have previously seen, to know God, to know Go . d 

, , , , . - « . . and Christ 

comprehend merely the motives of his action, we 
must partake of his nature. That Spirit which 
is in him must also be in us. 

If now, that Spirit which is in him be in us, 
we will love, not the things which are of this 
world, but the things which pertain to God and 
his righteousness. Contrariwise, we will hate 
those things which keep us from the righteous- 
ness of God; and our life in this world, — con- 
sidered as material existence, — comprises those 
things. 

As we have seen that our love for God and 
our knowledge of him are proportional to each 
other, so also our love for God and our hatred 
for our lives in this world may be said to be 
proportional. 

There are however other elements which ap- 
parently enter into this matter, it being evident 
that a disciple of Christ who lives surrounded by 
wickedness and sin of pronounced character, must 
hate his life more than one who lives more 
secluded from the wickedness of the world, and 
whose associates are of the same spiritual mind 
with himself. 



48 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

However it would be well to bear in mind that 
such a disciple as the one first mentioned may 
have placed himself in those wicked surround- 
ings designedly, urged on by his love for God 
and his consequent desire to do God's work. 
Every disciple has work to do, but it is perhaps 
not the duty of everyone to go out into the world 
to do it. Some may do it best at home and 
among their own associates. 

But it is logically apparent that he who knows 
God and Jesus Christ will hate his life in this 
world in proportion as it is in opposition to the 
perfect spiritual life. All life in this world (con- 
sidered as material existence) is in opposition to 
perfect spiritual life, but in some cases especially 
so. It is clear that while the degree of our hatred 
for our lives in this world is largely determined 
by the degree of contrast offered between our 
lives here, and the perfect Christian or spiritual 
life; while it is plain that this contrast varies 
somewhat in intensity as between different men, 
yet it is also plain that there does exist a pro- 
nounced contrast in the case of everyone, and 
that there should consequently exist in the case 
of everyone this hatred of his life in this world, 
conditioned as a material existence. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 49 

So also the degree of pain produced in us by 
the contemplation of the wickedness and sin 
which is not only around us all, but in some 
measure in us all,, and consequently the degree 
of our hatred for our lives in this world, is 
largely determined by, and is proportional to, our 
knowledge of God and his perfect righteousness. 
Thus it is logically true that he who knows God 
and Jesus Christ must hate his life considered as 
a thing of this world. 

Hence we find that, to know God and Jesus 
Christ, and to hate one's life in this world, agree 
together and make plainer to us what eternal 
life is. 

Section 23. All these different conceptions of Complete 
eternal life agree together in one with the state- h ^ r ^ ony ^ f f 
ment that to know God and Jesus Christ is initions is a 
eternal life, showing us that these are not dif- proof of truth 
ferent conceptions, but different faces of the 
same conception, — that they are merely different 
parts of one and the same thing, eternal life. 

Complete eternal life therefore includes all 
these things. 

These different definitions not only agree with 
the first definition that to know God and Jesus 
Christ is eternal life, but are also in perfect 



50 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

harmony with each other. Each one agrees with 
every other one. 

As we know that truth must be in harmony 
with itself, and as we have seen in part that this 
harmony exists here, so we will by further in- 
vestigation seek to discover a complete harmony ; 
to make evident that here we have by correct 
interpretation an invulnerable network of truth. 

In respect to definitions 2, 3, 4, and 5, as given 
in the preceding list in Section 12, it is self- 
evident that in view of the interpretations placed 
upon them, they are not only harmonious with, 
but equivalent to each other. 

For, the fourth, — to eat the flesh and drink the 
blood of Christ (to read the word and absorb 
the spirit of Christ), or, to eat of the living bread 
(to absorb the true meaning of the word), is in 
both parts plainly equivalent to the third defini- 
tion, — drinking of the water that Christ gives 
us (the word in its true meaning.) 

These two in turn are equivalent to the second 
definition, — to labor for that meat which the Son 
of man gives us, this meat being the true mean- 
ing of the word. We are told that if we seek we 
shall find, therefore to labor for this meat is to 
obtain it. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 51 

All these definitions are equivalent to the fifth, 
— having in them the commandment, or word, 
of God. To have the commandment at all they 
must have it in its real meaning, and this is also 
the result of the second, third and fourth def- 
initions. 

The sixth definition, — to hear Christ's word 
and believe on him that sent him is in harmony 
with the fifth, since to hear Christ's word is 
equivalent to hearing the word or command- 
ment of God ; and to believe on God by hearing 
the word, presupposes the understanding of its 
true meaning. 

The sixth definition is equivalent to the sev- 
enth, — believing on Jesus Christ, for does not 
Christ say, "He that believeth on me, believeth 
not on me, but on him that sent me"? (John 
12:44.) 

The eighth definition, — to keep Christ's say- 
ing is eternal life, is in perfect harmony with the 
seventh, since it is apparent that none will keep 
Christ's saying, save those who do believe on him. 

Now the ninth,— to be righteous is eternal life, 
— is equivalent to the eighth, since Christ's say- 
ing is the commandment of God, and he that 
keeps this commandment of God is righteous. 



52 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

The tenth definition, — to love the Lord with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy 
neighbor as thyself, — is also equivalent to the 
ninth ; since Christ says respecting the two com- 
mandments included under definition ten, "On 
these two commandments hang all the law and 
the prophets/' (Matt. 22:40.) Now he that 
fulfills all the law is righteous. 

Definition eleven, — to hate one's life in this 
world (considered as material existence, from a 
spiritual point of view) is eternal life, is also in 
perfect harmony with the tenth definition, since 
he that loves God thus will necessarily hate his 
life in this world, since this life interposes in his 
consciousness between him and the object of his 
greatest affection. 

Enough has been said to show the perfect har- 
mony of all these different definitions of eternal life. 

Furthermore it is apparent that they all must 
harmonize in every respect when taken in their 
proper meaning, since they are all in harmony 
with definition one, — to know God and Jesus 
Christ is eternal life, and since it is evident that 
definitions in harmony with the same definition 
must agree with each other. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 53 

Thus we see that each strand of this network 
of truth supports and renders stronger every 
other strand, and that there is perfect harmony 
throughout. 

The irresistible force of this will appear much 
greater if we go back and reflect from how 
many different forms of words we derived these 
varying definitions of eternal life: "everlasting 
life," "eternal life," "shall never see death," and 
"shall live forever." 

There is here an agreement of things men- 
tioned under different forms of words, but hav- 
ing the same significance, an agreement so com- 
plete and perfect as to set the seal of God's Spirit 
upon it. 

Section 24. There are also other ideas in- God's gift to 
eluded in the conception of eternal life, as in , u .^ t 1 f rnal . 

r life, through 

John 10: 10, we find, "I am come that they might re-birth and 
have life, and that they might have it more ?! owth ln A 

J ° Christ must 

abundantly." be accepted 

We know that the kind of life which Christ 
came to give men is spiritual — eternal — life. We 
learn from this verse that this life is of a kind 
which men do not by nature possess, since he 
says, "I am come that they might have life." 
It is plain that Christ considered mankind as 



54 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

spiritually dead by nature, since if it were not 
so, there would have existed no necessity for his 
coming with the direct object of giving them this 
spiritual life, nor any necessity for their being 
born again. 

Then he goes on to say, "and that they might 
have it more abundantly." After implying that 
men do not by nature have this kind of life, he 
says that he came to bring them more of it, 
thereby implying that they do have it. 

How shall we reconcile this seeming contra- 
diction ? 

There is but one conclusion possible, which 
is that mankind by nature is devoid of any spiri- 
tual life whatever; that if men individually do 
possess some of this life, it is because of the 
infinite mercy of God, who gave it to them, since 
by their nature as men they do not possess it. 

With respect to the physical world it is ap- 
parent that the physical embryo before birth can- 
not be truly said to live, since it possesses no 
separate entity, and since its life is entirely de- 
pendent on the life of the parent. What life it 
has is more the property of the parent than of 
the embryo, and remains so until birth is com- 
plete. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 55 

So it is with spiritual life. As the life of the 
physical embryo does not become its own till its 
birth into the physical world is complete, so also 
the life of the spiritual embryo does not become 
its own until its entrance into the spiritual world 
is complete. 

When Christ says, "I am come that they might 
have life," it is apparent he means that they must 
be born again ere they can possess this life. 

When he says, "and that they might have 
it more abundantly/' it is clear he means 
thereby that they who have unborn spiritual life 
may have it more abundantly; that is that they 
may be born again and thus themselves possess 
a more abundant measure of that spiritual life 
which was before, not their own but the heavenly 
Father's. 

We find in John 3 : 16, "For God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." Here again we have ever- 
lasting life the same as eternal life. Here we see 
that God gave his only begotten Son for this 
purpose. Eternal life is therefore a free gift of 
God to us, — a free gift of God through his Son. 

In John 10 : 27, 28, we find, "My sheep hear 



56 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : 
and I give unto them eternal life." We learn 
here that eternal life is not only the gift of God 
to us, but that it is the gift of Christ to us as 
well. Thus are we enabled not only to appreciate 
that it is a free gift to us, that this is the manner 
in which we obtain it, that we have but to accept 
this gift in order to receive all the manifold 
blessings of eternal life ; but we are also enabled 
to understand better the truth of the fact that 
God and Christ are one. 

We find here also the thought that eternal life 
being a gift, must like any other gift be accepted 
or rejected. That we do not by virtue of our 
birth into the kingdom of men, possess eternal 
life, but by virtue of our acceptance of the priv- 
ilege of being born again into the kingdom of 
God. 

Some eminent minister has recently said that 
man by virtue of his birth as man, has in him a 
divine spark, which cannot be buried. Perhaps 
not, but could it not be taken back to God who 
lent it, and leave the unprofitable servant des- 
titute of eternal life? "And whosoever hath not, 
from him shall be taken even that which he seem- 
eth to have." (Luke 8:18.) 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 57 

It is clear that we must accept this gift, ere we 
can have eternal, — spiritual, — life. 

Section 25. Eternal life must unquestionably ° ur incom * 

*? A • plete eternal 

be perfect, whether we have it here, or hereafter ; Hf e here 
but by no means in the first case necessarily com- 
plete, since while we are here, eternal life can- 
not possess us completely. Our being, as it were, 
is divided between spiritual life, and the life of 
the flesh ; even as Paul says, "the carnal mind is 
enmity against God." (Romans 8:7.) 

Yet it is plain to be seen that we cannot be 
completely separated from the mind of the flesh, 
while we dwell in the flesh, though with the aid 
of Christ we can approach close to it ; and could 
we overcome the obstacle of the flesh sufficiently 
to submit ourselves entirely to Christ, the result 
must doubtless be a perfectly spiritual mind, as 
in the case of Christ. 

In Section 21 we find that there exists a con- 
stant relation between our knowledge of God 
and our love for God. As the one increases, the 
other necessarily keeps pace with it. 

Now we find in Section 11 that to be a dis- 
ciple of Christ, a man must love God and his 
righteousness more than all other things put to- 
gether. We find that all who come to God 



58 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

must come through Christ; that all who really 
come through Christ are disciples of Christ ; and 
that all true disciples of Christ have entered the 
process of re-birth, at least embryonic re-birth, 
and therefore have some measure of eternal life. 

As was said before, our love for God keeps 
pace, step by step, with our knowledge of him. 
If our love for God must reach a certain point 
before we can be true disciples of Christ, or be 
born again so as to be true children of God ; so 
also our knowledge of God must reach a corre- 
sponding point at the same time. 

The point of birth into a true child of God is 
that at which our love for God and his right- 
eousness is greater than our love for all other 
things whatsoever, and I call to your attention 
that the corresponding point in regard to knowl- 
edge of God must therefore indicate a knowledge 
of God quite advanced. 

These two points denote those at which men 
become true sons of God. "For as many as are 
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God." (Romans 8: 14.) We may be sure that 
any who have reached these points will never 
backslide, or be overcome of the world, but will 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 59 

be upheld by the power of God. "For whatso- 
ever is born of God overcometh the world." 
(I John 5:4.) 

Whosoever therefore has doubts as to whether 
he loves God and his righteousness more than all 
other things, may well also have doubts as to 
whether he is a true child of God. He need how- 
ever have no doubt whatever, that with continued 
diligence in seeking God, his love for God and 
his righteousness will increase to this point, 
which when it reaches, Christ shall be revealed 
to him with such power that he will truly believe 
on him with a belief such as Christ speaks of, — 
a belief unto eternal life. 

Now since the things of God are discerned by 
the Spirit of God only, — "For what man know- 
eth the things of a man, save the spirit of man 
which is in him? even so the things of God 
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God," (I Cor. 
2:11) — no man need be troubled that he is 
without learning, neither encouraged because he 
has it. For we know that learning in this case 
avails nothing, but rather that we should be as 
little children, anxious to learn of God, and will- 
ing to acknowledge that as men we know nothing 
of him as we ought. "Verily I say unto you, 



60 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
as a little child, he shall not enter therein." 
(Mark 10: 15.) And surely we shall receive it 
as little children if we feel that we know noth- 
ing as yet concerning God, as we ought to know 
it, and if we labor diligently and without ceasing 
to learn of him. 

Perhaps most people in civilized lands know in 
a way, that God is just, merciful and holy, all 
wise, all powerful; and that he loves all man- 
kind with a mighty love; but their comprehen- 
sion of these qualities in him is generally very 
inadequate. As we have seen, to know means to 
comprehend. And we know that if we labor for 
this understanding, God will bless our labor, and 
give unto us his Spirit, — by means of which only 
is understanding of these things possible, — 
according as we labor. 

Let us take a short look at that complete 
eternal life which shall be ours in due time, in 
order that we may not faint, nor grow weary, 
but may labor abundantly in this glorious hope. 
Complete Section 26. As we have seen that in a com- 
plete eternal life our knowledge of God and 
Christ will be perfect, so also our belief in Jesus 
Christ will be perfect, — that is will merge into 



eternal life 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 61 

perfect knowledge of him. Our love for God 
will be a perfect love, — that is will occupy all of 
every part of our being, leaving no room for any 
other love whatever, except such as results be- 
cause of it ; as, to love our neighbor as ourselves, 
which is after all but the expression of God's 
love in us toward others. 

Further, in this complete eternal life the com- 
mandment of God will in us be perfected, — that 
is will dwell in us in all complete and possible 
fullness. 

We shall then keep Christ's saying perfectly, 
and consequently be perfectly righteous. 

Our will must therefore also be perfected so as 
to be identical with, and even as God's will ; and 
as Christ has informed us in the Lord's prayer 
that God's will is always done in heaven, so also 
must our wills always be accomplished there. 
Furthermore, we shall comprehend perfectly 
God's mighty love for us, and it will fill us with 
joy. What sources of perfect happiness are 
here! 

Paul says, "For we know in part, and we 
prophesy in part. But when that which is per- 
fect is come, then that which is in part shall be 
done away. For now we see through a glass 



62 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

darkly; but then face to face: now I know in 
part; but then shall I know even as also I am 
known." (I Cor. 13:9, 10, 12.) 
Christ's Section 27. Now Christ has by the many in- 
intended^to stances mentioned in different parts of his Gos- 
have only a pel regarding the generation and maintenance of 
a Tication spiritual l^ e : — by eating his flesh and drinking 
his blood (John 6: 54) ; by eating the bread of 
life (John 6: 58) ; by his reference to the meat 
which endureth unto everlasting life (John 6: 
27) ; and by his reference to the water of life 
(John 4:14), thereby drawn a plain analogy 
between the processes of generating and main- 
taining physical life, and those processes with 
reference to the spiritual life. We cannot doubt 
that he intended this analogy to be carried out 
in full, or he would not have used it. 

Unquestionably he used this mode of expres- 
sion as the best means of making himself plainly 
understood, since all mankind are most accus- 
tomed to regarding things from a material and 
physical viewpoint, and he has therefore ad- 
justed his explanations of spiritual generation 
and growth to this point of view; at the same 
time by other statements making plain to us that 
he intended these things to be taken spiritually, 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 63 

as: "It is the spirit that quickeneth" ; — causes 
to live spiritually — "the flesh profiteth nothing: 
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
and they are life." (John 6: 63.) 

This verse occurs in the latter part of the same 
chapter in which three of the above references 
occur, and is unquestionably in further explana- 
tion of those references. If, then, it be true that, 
"It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth 
nothing," then it must follow that the meaning 
of "flesh and blood" in the saying, "Whoso eateth 
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, 
is a spiritual meaning only ; for if it did, as some 
believe, apply to the physical flesh and blood of 
Christ, or to the bread and wine of the sacra- 
ment, then would it be a material application and 
not a spiritual one, for these are all material 
things. Hence if "the flesh profiteth nothing," 
none of these things can be a cause of possessing 
"eternal life," since eternal life profits much. 

If, then it be true that this sacrament of the 
Church — the Lord's Supper — is other than a 
symbolical ceremony, then are the words of 
Christ untrue, for he says, "That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6.) 



64 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

No man can deny that the spirit of the believer 
is quickened during the administration of the 
sacrament, but that this quickening is not due 
to the bread and the wine is clear. 

The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke 
agree substantially in their account of the Lord's 
Supper : he blesses the bread and gives to them 
as his body; takes the wine, gives thanks, and 
bids them drink of it as his blood of the new 
testament, shed for them. 

If we consider what possible interpretations 
might be made of this, we shall find four, — the 
body arid blood of Christ may be taken to mean : 

i. The spiritual body and blood of Christ; 

2. The physical body and blood of Christ; 

3. That the bread and wine were intended by 
Christ to represent his spiritual body and blood ; 

4. That the bread and the wine were intended 
to represent his physical body and blood. 

Suppose, as in the first instance, that we take 
the bread and wine to be actually the spiritual 
body and blood of Christ. But we know that 
this bread and wine are of themselves material 
things, and being so, cannot at the same time 
actually be spiritual. 

Here some may say, — How about the Bible? 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 65 

Is not that at the same time a book and also the 
word of God? The book, to be sure, is always 
a material thing at all times. But when the 
meaning of the printed book becomes impressed 
on the human consciousness, it is a spiritual thing, 
and is not then a printed book. The very words 
of the Bible are but symbols standing in place of 
meanings ; and these meanings impressed on the 
human consciousness are spiritual, while the sym- 
bols themselves are material things. 

By science — the experience of men — and by 
ordinary reason, we know that one thing cannot 
at the same time be another thing. 

We also know it by the word of Christ, since 
he says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; 
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit/' 
which is equivalent to saying that material things 
cannot either generate or renew spiritual life. 
And here let it be said that if to some the Bible 
seems to generate or renew spiritually, they 
should remember that it is only the Spirit of God 
which makes known the things of God: so that 
if the true meaning of any part of the Bible is 
impressed on our consciousness, this impression 
which renews us spiritually is the work of the 
Holy Spirit. 



66 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

Hence this first position is untenable and we 
will dismiss it from consideration. 

Second, we will suppose the bread and wine to 
be actually the physical body and blood of Christ. 

If this supposition be true, then the bread and 
the wine being actually the physical body and 
blood of Christ can in no way renew us spiri- 
tually. Why so? Because, "That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit." This being true, not even 
the physical flesh and blood of Jesus himself will 
avail to give us spiritual life, and Christ himself 
testifies that this is true. 

Therefore we may dismiss the second supposi- 
tion as untenable also. 

We will take the third supposition, — that the 
bread and wine were intended by Christ to 
merely represent his spiritual body and blood. 
If they merely represent and actually are not his 
spiritual body and blood, they do not fulfill the 
conditions necessary to give eternal life, foir 
Christ has said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the 
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life 
in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
blood, hath eternal life." 

On the supposition we are considering, how- 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 67 

ever, the bread and the wine are not actually the 
body and the blood, but merely represent them, 
and hence cannot give eternal life, not being 
themselves the source of it. 

Therefore we are obliged to dismiss this third 
supposition also, since eternal life is not thereby 
to be had. 

Now, considering the fourth supposition, that 
the bread and the wine are intended merely to 
represent his physical body and blood, we find 
that if the actual physical body and blood of 
Christ cannot give to us eternal life, the mere 
representatives are still less able to do so. 

This brings us to the conclusion that the say- 
ing, " Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my 
blood hath eternal life," does not apply to the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper at all, but rather 
to the word of Christ, that is to its true meaning 
impressed on our consciousness, — as is evidenced 
by John 1 : 14, "And the Word was made flesh 
and dwelt among us." 

It also brings us to the conclusion that in the 
bread and wine of the sacrament there is no 
eternal life whatever. The Lord's Supper then 
is but a symbolical ceremony, calculated to bring 
home to our consciousness with striking force 



68 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

the great sacrifice of Christ for our sakes, — to 
make apparent to us how great his love toward 
us must have been. Now since it is true that 
love begets love, that the realization that we are 
much loved begets in us a like feeling toward 
him who loves us, the practical utility of the 
Lord's Supper is clear, as it brings home to us 
the love of Christ, thereby generating in us a like 
feeling toward him, and toward the Father who 
sent him to endure all this for our sakes. 

If there are those who would urge Christ's 
words concerning the bread and wine: "This is 
my body," and "This is my blood" ; we reply 
that many of Christ's sayings can only be inter- 
preted by reference to his other words, and only 
by this harmonizing of all his words are we able 
to come into a correct understanding of some 
of the things he says. 

In Luke 14 : 26 we read, "If any man come 
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and 
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." 

If we were to interpret this literally, as some 
interpret the sayings with reference to the Lord's 
Supper, it would lead us into the error of think- 
ing that a man acquired merit by hating his 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 69 

father and his mother; but the Jesus who told 
us to "love our enemies" could not mean that we 
should hate our friends and relatives, though he 
apparently says so as clearly as could well be. 

This verse then to be correctly interpreted 
must be brought into perfect harmony with that 
other saying, "Love your enemies." We can 
interpret it harmoniously if we hold it to mean 
that we must hate the spirit of this world which 
is in our father and mother; — yes, and in our- 
selves also. What Christ really says here is that 
we must hate all things which interfere to keep 
us from God and from doing his work, as he 
himself said to Peter, his chief apostle, "Get thee 
behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the 
things that be of God, but those that be of men." 
(Matt. 16:23.) For Peter sought to restrain 
Jesus from doing the work which God had ap- 
pointed him to do. Did not Jesus hate Satan? 
Yes, even though this evil spirit manifested itself 
in one of his best friends. 

We cannot, then, interpret Christ's words re- 
garding the bread and wine literally, and use the 
human reason which God has given us to use. 
In another sense, however, we find that these 
words of Jesus are true; for while we do not 



70 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

partake of the body and blood of Jesus in par- 
taking of the Lord's Supper, yet we do partake 
of his spiritual body, if believing on him as the 
Son of God who sacrificed himself for us, we 
feel our love kindling toward him. In loving 
that which is good we have in us the Spirit of 
Christ himself. 

If we then in taking part in this sacrament, by 
the force with which it brings home to us the 
love of Jesus for us, also experience an increased 
love for him, in partaking of this Spirit of love, 
we do partake of the body and blood of Christ, 
since Christ is a Spirit, a Spirit not only of 
obedience to righteousness, but a Spirit of sacri- 
fice for the soul welfare of others. 

John the beloved says, "God is love," and Jesus 
says, "I and my Father are one." Jesus must 
therefore have referred to the kindling of love 
for him in the heart of the disciple which doing 
this in remembrance of Christ, as he commanded, 
must produce. 

If a deaf man who had never heard the Gospel 
or read the Bible, should come into church and 
join the people at the Communion table in par- 
taking of the bread and wine, it is perfectly clear 
that it could profit him nothing. Or if a man 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 71 

familiar with the Gospel, but not believing in 
Jesus' sacrifice for our sakes, should take part in 
the Communion, because everyone else did ; it is 
evident that he would receive no benefit. There 
is no eternal life in the bread, or in the wine, 
either for him or for anyone else. 

Where then is the eternal life? In knowing 
Christ — in realizing the spirit in which Jesus 
sacrificed his life. We must realize this spirit, 
if we believe on him and understand that he 
gave his life for our sakes ; for this in itself 
shows us that he must have done it in a spirit of 
love for us. This understanding is not only of 
the mind, but of the heart, and apart from it, 
there can be no eternal life in the Lord's Supper 
for anyone. 

Now this heart comprehension comes to us by 
the word of God. It is a logical conclusion then, 
that there is no eternal life w T hich does not come 
from the word of God, as Jesus says, "the words 
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they 
are life." 

Whether we speak of the "Word of God" as 
the words which Jesus spoke, impressed on our 
consciousness and heart in their intended mean- 
ing; or speak of it as Christ, — that is the Spirit 



J2 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

in which they were spoken, is all one: since it 
is clear that an understanding of the intended 
meaning of Christ's words generates in us the 
Spirit in which they were spoken. 

Meaning impressed on consciousness and heart 
is spirit. If you are told that some man hates 
you, and the words or incident related which lead 
to that conclusion ; if you have not Christ already 
in you, it must inevitably follow that when this 
becomes impressed on your consciousness, when 
you realize it, a spirit of hatred for this man will 
rise in you. Likewise when the words of Christ 
in their intended meaning become impressed on 
your consciousness and heart, when they are 
realized, the Spirit of Christ rises in you — is 
born in you it may be. 

"Ye must be born again." (John 3:7.) 
Eternal life comes only through the Word of 
God. Remember that Jesus says, "God is ^ 
Spirit," and that John says, "and the Word was 
God." A knowledge of the fact that the bread 
and wine of the sacrament do not in themselves 
contain eternal life is of the greatest value, since 
it leads us to the fact that eternal life 
comes only by knowing the words of God in 
their true meaning, — that is by having the Spirit 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 73 

of God which is identical with knowing God. 
"And this is life eternal, that they might know 
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
thou hast sent." "I and my Father are one." 

In conclusion the value of the Lord's Supper 
cannot be denied, — for we know God, and as a 
result have eternal life, not by mental apprehen- 
sion alone, but by the addition of what may be 
called heart comprehension. 

Section .28. We have found in the foregoing Christ's 
section that the analogies drawn by Christ be- mea ? m s 

a J obtained by 

tween the processes of generating and maintain- carrying his 
ing physical, and those processes as regards the anal og*es 
spiritual life, are intended to apply solely in a 
spiritual sense. 

We must carry these analogies out in full in 
order to get Christ's meaning. Let us consider 
the mystery of physical generation, and its 
maintenance and growth. We know that physi- 
cal life comes from preceding physical life. 

The greatest spiritual authority who ever lived 
as a man, informs us that this law which operates 
without variation in the physical world, also 
operates without variation in the spiritual world. 
We learn from him that spiritual life is gener- 
ated from preceding spiritual life, and that our 



74 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

spiritual life depends upon that spiritual life 
which is in Christ, and which comes through 
Christ to us. "The words that I speak unto you ; 
they are spirit and they are life." 

Here let it be observed that Christ spoke all his 
words with a certain meaning, and it is evident 
that we must obtain something of this true 
Christ-given meaning ere these words become 
spirit and life to us. 

As we know that in the propagation of physi- 
cal life, a seed wherein physical life exists, is 
the base of every living physical organism; so 
we also know that in the propagation of spiritual 
or eternal life, a seed wherein spiritual life exists, 
is the base of all organisms possessing spiritual 
life, and we have Christ's own word for it as to 
what this seed is, — "The seed is the word of 
God." (Luke 8:2.) 

If the word of Christ quoted here be true, 
there can be no other kind of seed which will 
raise this crop, because two varieties of seed will 
not produce the same thing. The seed being dif- 
ferent, the crop must also be different. 

Now the consciousness of the natural man is 
but the soil in which the seed of eternal life is 
sown, and contains in itself no spiritual life what- 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 75 

ever, nor can it, except this seed be sown in it. 
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man [the 
word], and drink his blood [the Spirit], ye have 
no life in you." (John 6: 53.) 

After physical life is generated it must be 
maintained by being fed. The yet unborn physi- 
cal organism must be fed sufficiently, in order 
that its life may be maintained, that it may grow, 
that it may be born, in fact. The life of the un- 
born physical organism depends wholly upon be- 
ing sufficiently fed. Likewise the life of the yet 
unborn spiritual organism depends wholly upon 
being sufficiently fed. 

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born 
again." Regarded in this light, the spiritual or- 
ganism is a re-birth, or birth again. Man is 
born once into this world consciousness, the spirit 
of this world, and must be re-born of the Spirit 
of God. So we see that the man is re-born in 
this sense, when the Spirit of God taking up its 
abode in him begins for him existence in another 
world — the kingdom of God. His consciousness 
and heart hitherto welded to the spirit of this 
world, which occupies itself with the things of 
this material world, — the things of sense, begins 
to become welded to the Spirit of God, which 



76 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

occupies itself with the things of the unseen 
world, — the things of spirit. As Paul says, 
"While we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen: for the 
things which are seen are temporal; but the 
things which are not seen are eternal. " (II 
Cor. 4: 18.) 

We are justified then in saying that a man is 
born again who has received the Spirit of God — 
the Holy Ghost; knowing that, as John says, 
"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the 
world" (I John 5:4; and that the welding 
process once begun must be completed — that 
welding process which begins when a man re- 
ceives the Spirit of God, and which is finished 
when he becomes one in that Spirit. "I in them, 
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in 
one." (John 17: 23.) 

According to this view, a man would be born 
again on receiving the Spirit of God ; then there 
would be a period of growth, a coming to matur- 
ity as it were, — which would be represented by 
the time between the gift of the Holy Ghost and 
the becoming wholly one with that gift. The 
fullness of spiritual growth can be none other 
than perfect oneness with Christ, — with God. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 77 

As we know that there is no end of the spiri- 
tual world, we cannot carry the analogy of 
spiritual things with physical any further than 
we have, — the birth of the spiritual organism, 
and its growth and coming to maturity ; for with 
this spiritual organism there can be no death, 
since this is born of God. The maturity of the 
organism which is born of God is life — eternal 
life. 

The point of view which we have just con- 
sidered — that a man is born again who has re- 
ceived the gift of the Holy Spirit — we might 
properly call the "man point of view." There is 
yet another point of view from which we ought 
to consider this matter, since both these points 
of view are necessary to a harmonizing and an 
understanding of much that we find in the New 
Testament. The second point of view we may 
justly call the "God point of view." This point 
of view is that God — in Christ — takes up his 
abode in us and grows in us until our whole 
nature is Him; that we are, in our poor human 
nature, but the soil and Christ the seed. 

Both these points are not only made manifest, 
but proven by the following verses: "We know 
that whosoever is born of God sinneth not." 



78 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

(I John 5:18); "Whosoever abideth in him 
sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen 
him, neither known him." (I John 3:6.) 

Now we know that John had received the gift 
of the Holy Ghost when Jesus breathed on his 
apostles and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 
(John 20:22.) We know, in other words, that 
he had been born again of the Spirit. 

John says, "We know that whosoever is born 
of God sinneth not," and this leads us to the con- 
clusion that John after having been born again 
by receiving the Holy Ghost never thereafter 
sinned. But John also says, "If we say that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us." (I John 1:8.) By this we see 
that John includes himself with those in whom 
sin exists as a present possession. We may 
recall here the prayer of Solomon at the conse- 
cration of the temple, "for there is no man that 
sinneth not," and the harmonious saying of Jesus, 
"there is none good but one, that is, God." 
(Matt. 19: 17.) 

The truth of these things cannot be denied. 
Though a man may in one sense be born again, 
having the gift of the Holy Ghost, and though he 
will not live in sin, yet he will sin at times. Now 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 79 

we know, also, that "Whosoever abideth in him 
sinneth not," and, "Whosoever is born of God 
doth not commit sin." We know that Jesus 
never sinned and that God could never beget 
one who sinned, for, as John says, "He that 
committeth sin is of the devil." (I John 3:8.) 

Can both these points of view be true? Yes, 
for while in one sense a man cannot be born 
again who sins, in another sense he is unques- 
tionably born again, even though he may sin 
at times. As we have seen from what we called 
the "man point of view," a man is born again 
when he receives the Holy Spirit. But from 
the "God point of view" he cannot be born again 
until entirely freed from sin. For, "whosoever 
is born of God sinneth not." From this point 
of view, therefore, a man is not born again 
until he is perfected in Christ, which obviously 
does not occur during his life here. 

So while we are in one sense born again when 
we receive Christ, yet in another sense we are 
not born again until Christ has done his work 
in us and fully freed us from sin. We are inevi- 
tably bound to be born again at some future time 
in the latter sense, if we have been born again in 
the first sense — if we have received Christ. 



80 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

A man then can become a son of God only 
when freed from sin, when perfected and made 
wholly one with Christ, who is one with God. 
It is apparent, therefore, that from the last men- 
tioned point of view — that of the perfect Father 
— the Christ who is born in a man must be re- 
garded as in a sense separate and apart from 
the man himself; and yet at the same time one 
with the man in so far as the man lives in that 
spirit, because, as John says, "whosoever is born 
of God sinneth not." 
We must be Section 29. Carrying out the analogy which 
* * s J )1T ^ a ; ny Jesus has given us, we see that as the birth of the 

fed by Christ; J ° 

we must physical organism depends upon being suffi- 

exercise our ciently f e( J SQ t } ie ^fa f t h e spiritual Or- 
spiritual J r 

strength by ganism, Christ in us, depends upon being suffi- 
•n° m f J h d c ^ en ^y fed* And as the physical organism must 
be fed sufficiently in order to attain to maturity — 
to the fullness of its physical powers — so must 
the spiritual organism be fed sufficiently to at- 
tain to the fullness of spiritual powers of which 
the Christ in us is capable. 

After birth, growth. It is possible for the 
physical organism to die for lack of food after 
being born; but the Christ in man, once born, 
knows the source of supply of spiritual food. 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 81 

This spiritual organism, therefore, is immortal, 
but like the physical body, may attain a greater 
or less fullness of power within the span of an 
earthly existence, according to whether it re- 
ceives sufficient food, and sufficient exercise of 
the spiritual strength gained from that food. 

In regard to the food of this spiritual organ- 
ism, it is God, for Christ says in John 6 : 57, 
"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by 
the Father." He then adds, "so he that eateth 
me, even he shall live by me," and here let us 
remember what John says, "and the word was 
God"; also Christ's saying, "I and my Father 
are one." 

The physical man must not only have sufficient 
food, but sufficient exercise in order to assimi- 
late that food and reach the full strength of 
which he is capable. Repairs go on more rapid- 
ly when muscles are used, and the parts of worn- 
out tissue then replaced are built, not back into 
the softer form of unused muscle, but into the 
harder form of muscle in action. Thus the 
physical body becomes great and powerful. 

By the application of this natural law to the 
spiritual organism, as Jesus has authorized us 
to do in his analogies, we draw the conclusion 



82 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? • 

that the power of the spiritual man depends upon 
exercise as well as upon food. 

Jesus saith unto them, "My meat is to do 
the will of him that sent me, and to finish his 
work/' (John 4: 34.) Doing the will of God, 
that is spiritual exercise. So the maturity and 
perfectness of spiritual strength which was in 
Jesus depended not only on his spiritual food — 
"I live by the Father" — but also on exercising 
the spiritual strength which that food gave him, 
thereby assimilating the food and making it a 
part of himself. Exercising his spiritual strength 
was, "to do the will of him that sent me." 

So it is with us. The spiritual man, Christ 
in us, attains to a greater or less fullness, not only 
by sufficient food, but also by using the spiritual 
strength we get from that food in doing the will 
of God; in finishing that portion of his work 
which the Spirit tells us is ours. 

Jesus says in John 4 : 36, "And he that reap- 
eth, receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto 
life eternal; that both he that soweth and he 
that reapeth may rejoice together." It may 
be said that he gathereth the fruit in himself, 
as he reaps from day to day in this life; since 
the spiritual man, or Christ in him, becomes 



As the nat- 
ural man dies 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 83 

stronger according as he reaps — does the will 
of God. Now Christ is life eternal. 

Section 30. So though we may be born 
again, having received the Holy Spirit, yet it is i n us, the 
not we that are born, but Christ in us. Like- s P iritual man 

. . - 1S perfected 

wise we may grow to spiritual fullness of stature, 
and yet not we, but the Son of God born in us, 
grows in us to such fullness of spiritual strength 
as the abundance determines of spiritual food 
and spiritual exercise which he receives. And 
this is in our hands. 

It is not we, as we exist in our own con- 
sciousness, that go to heaven — into the kingdom 
of God, but only that part of us which is good — 
the Son of God. "And no man hath ascended 
up to heaven but he that came down from 
heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. 
(John 3:13.) It is fortunate that this is so, 
for if we could take the evil part of our nature 
with us we should be no more happy there than 
here. The "carnal mind" is enmity against God, 
and we should be in a state of division against 
ourselves. 

Christ said, "The Kingdom of God is within 
you," but he did not say that this kingdom occu- 
pied our whole being, nor can it until we are 



84 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

finally purged of all that is evil ; in other words, 
until we are perfected. 

As his own death approached, Jesus said: 
"The hour is come that the Son of Man should 
be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and 
die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth 
forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall 
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world 
shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:23, 
24, 25.) In Luke 13:32, Jesus says, "and the 
third day I shall be perfected." Christ was 
glorified by his victory over death in the natural 
body, and again when in his ascension he passed 
wholly out of the material into the spiritual 
world. 

And day by day, as the natural man dies in 
us, the spiritual man is perfected more and 
more. And day by day, as the natural man dies 
in us, the spiritual man brings forth fruit more 
and more. "But if it die, it bringeth forth 
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose 
it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall 
keep it unto life eternal." What a blessed 
thing it is that God has given us power through 
his Son in us, to live here upon earth in the 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 85 

kingdom of God in a measure. "He that hath 
the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son 
of God hath not life." (I John 5 : 12.) 

Section 31. There is a phase of the subject Beginnings of 
not yet touched upon, but which we are justified 
in mentioning, by the analogies which Jesus 
drew between physical and spiritual life. There 
is a period before birth in the development of the 
physical organism when its life is not its own 
but belongs to the parent. So also there is a 
period in the development of the spiritual organ- 
ism when its life is not its own but the heavenly 
Father's. "For he that hath, to him shall be 
given; and he that hath not, from him shall 
be taken even that which he hath." (Mark 4 : 25.) 
"He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath 
not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12.) 

If then Christ be born in us, we shall have 
life indeed, as he says in John 5 : 26 : "For as 
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given 
to the Son to have life in himself." 

Section 32. Most of us have at some time 
or other found difficulty in the conception of the The spiritual 
spiritual oneness of the Father and the Son. ^ d n ^ d ° f 
Perhaps we may by reference to the Gospels Christ 
attain to a clearer conception of it. 



86 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

We find in John i : 14, "And the Word was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld 
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father), full of grace and truth." In John 
1 : 1 we find, "And the Word was God." 

Instead of having to comprehend only Christ's 
identity with the Word, we have to comprehend 
God's identity with the Word also. This seems 
to make the matter more difficult, but in reality 
renders it simpler. For instance, we find in 
John 5 : 30, "I and my Father are one." Thus 
we have in these three verses direct statements 
that Christ is identical with the Word; that God 
is identical with the Word, and that Christ and 
God are identical. Now this identity of Christ 
with God is unquestionably made more conceiv- 
able to our reason by the identity of each of 
them with the Word. 

Let us, for instance, consider Abraham Lin- 
coln. What was his real self? Was it the giant 
body, six feet four inches tall? Was it the 
physical body that was Abraham Lincoln's real 
self? or was it that inward individuality 
which made him think and act as he did ? Surely 
the real self of the man was the inward man. 
In our case likewise the spirit which is in us, 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 87 

that inward man which dictates all our thoughts 
and actions, is our real self. 

The real self of Christ Jesus is the spirit of 
Christ, the Holy Spirit, which is God. Jesus 
says in John 4 : 24, "God is a Spirit, and they that 
worship him must worship him in spirit and 
in truth/' 

Where John says in the first verse of his 
gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God," he might have said with equal truth: In 
the beginning was the Spirit and the Spirit was 
with God, and the Spirit was God; but if he 
had done so we would not be able to know so 
certainly where to go to find God. "The Word" 
truly does not mean the spoken symbols which 
came from the mouth of Jesus ; it means rather 
the spirit of Jesus, and to find out what manner 
of spirit this is, we can do no better than to 
study and think about the words which he spoke 
and the perfectly harmonious deeds which he 
did. Where our consideration of his words 
fails to make plain to us his spirit — the Word — 
then oftentimes his deeds and life supply the 
essential spiritual comprehension, the meaning 
lacking. "And the Word was made flesh, and 



88 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

dwelt among us." The Word was made mani- 
fest by deeds as well as by words, the deeds 
which Jesus did. 

It is worthy of note that we have an absolute 
guarantee of the truth of Christ's sayings by 
their perfect harmony with each other, by their 
harmony with his deeds, and by Christ's promise 
to his disciples in John 14:26: "But the Com- 
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father 
will send in my name, he shall teach you all 
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
whatsoever I have said unto you." 
Our lcve for Section 33. Christ has left to us two com- 
o.ur. neighbor m andments, in the perfect observance of which 

is to be ex- ' r 

pressed in the entire will of God would in us be fulfilled. 

terms of our "J esus sa j d unto him Thou shalt J ove the Lord 
love for God J 

thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind. This is the first and great 
commandment. And the second is like unto it, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On 
these two commandments hang all the law and 
the prophets." 

There are some eminent divines who appar- 
ently make the greater commandment subordin- 
ate to the lesser, who practically say to us that 
if we fulfill the lesser — to love our neighbor as 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 89 

ourselves — we also fulfill the greater. But is 
this necessarily so? Is it not possible for a 
man to love his neighbor as himself, and yet 
neither love himself or his neighbor on a spiritual 
plane, with reference to the things of God? Is 
it not possible for a man who finds his pleas- 
ure in the things of this world, to take an 
equal pleasure in seeing others do likewise? 
He may wish the best for himself and his neigh- 
bor that he is able to see, and still not fulfill the 
first and great commandment to love the Lord 
with all his heart, and soul, and mind. 

Jesus says that on the observance of both 
these commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets, and we are, therefore, not justified in 
saying that the observance of the lesser is all 
that is necessary. In John 15:12 we find, 
"This is my commandment, that ye love one 
another, as I have loved you." Here it is ap- 
parent that the words "as I have loved you" 
imply a love from the spiritual plane, and that 
this commandment, therefore, includes both the 
commandments we have mentioned. 

We find the same to be the case in John 13 : 34, 
where Jesus says, "A new commandment I give 
unto you, that ye love one another, as I have 



9 o WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 

loved you, that ye also love one another." The 
possibility of inadequate interpretation is evident- 
ly in Jesus' mind when he adds, "as I have 
loved you, that ye also love one another." It 
is plain that in loving one another as Christ 
loved us, we must love with reference to spiritual 
things, with reference to the eternal welfare of 
each other, for such was the manner of his 
love for us. 

With regard, therefore, to the two great com- 
mandments, we are not justified in twisting the 
word of Christ from its true meaning, which 
clearly is, that the lesser commandment is with 
reference to the greater ; that wherever there may 
be a seeming conflict in the application of these 
two commandments, the conflict is to be decided 
with reference to our love for God and his 
righteousness, rather than with reference to our 
love for our neighbor. 

In reality there can be no actual conflict be- 
tween these two commandments, for they are in 
perfect harmony. But there are times when 
we are called upon to make a decision as to a 
seeming conflict. In such cases it will be found 
that this apparent conflict is caused by our failure 
to reconcile the well-being of our neighbor out- 



WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 91 

wardly and inwardly, spiritually and physically. 
Suppose a situation where we could obtain food 
or shelter for our neighbor only by committing 
robbery, perjury, or some other sin against the 
spiritual man. We are not commanded to love 
our neighbor more than ourselves. If we would 
not do this for ourselves we should not do it for 
our neighbor, and if we would commit such acts 
for ourselves, it is evident that we do not love 
God with all our heart, and soul, and mind. 
Our love and care for the inward welfare of our 
neighbor is to be placed above that for his out- 
ward welfare, the same as for ourselves. 

In this connection it is also true that every 
proper and righteous expression of love for our 
neighbor in regard to material things is also an 
expression of our love for his inward welfare, 
and is, therefore, also an expression of our love 
for God and his righteousness. As such we can 
none of us afford to neglect these things. They 
are of the first importance, both to our neighbor's 
welfare and to our own. Yet let us assign to 
the first and great commandment its proper 
place, the place which Christ assigned to it. 



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